Thursday, 30 April 2009
Sarah Palin's Arctic Cat snowmobiles
I found an article from Sports Illustrated that has this passage:
Some Iron Doggers have spent upwards of $30,000 to finance a once-in-a-lifetime run into the wild heart of Alaska. Tapping their credit cards, they've shelled out $10,000 each for a 2009 snow machine, $10,000 more for an identical training sled, $2,500 for the race entry fee and a few thousand more for trailing airplane support. Palin and Davis, in contrast, have spent almost nothing. They are prodigiously sponsored, with their names monogrammed in script on their matching Arctic Cat jackets. (Palin even has the names of his five kids and his wife, SARAH, THE GOV, appliquéd on his snow machine hood.) They give inspirational speeches at trade shows.
So... Sarah Palin "inherits" Todd's previous year's snow mobiles. As he doesn't really pay for them and the governor goes on to take possession of these "gifts", isn't wearing Team Arctic gear in her official capacity as governor twice as unethical?
I'm not an expert on tax returns and what everything means, in the US or anywhere else, so I ask my readers to have a look at all these bits and pieces and give an opinion. Please bear in mind that the tax returns are filled in their joint names, if that's relevant at all...
Let's recap what we have found out so far about Sarah Palin's involvement with Arctic Cat, Team Arctic and other sponsors:
- Wearing Team Arctic gear when acting in her official capacity as governor.
- Official government website links to Todd's various sponsors.
- Sarah Palin inherits Todd's old snowmobiles.
Do they sell the old snowmobiles? Do they have a pile of them by now?
Was this get-together with Paul Teutul Sr at her Anchorage government office? Was Sarah Palin really promoting Arctic Cat from the governor's office?
So many questions from us and so many answers not forthcoming from the esteemed governor...
Tax forms 2006
Tax forms 2007
Slightly OT: Very good post about Sarah Palin's legal fees here.
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Sarah Palin: "I never said that!"
ADN, March 19:
Gov. Sarah Palin is refusing to accept over 30 percent of the federal economic stimulus money being offered to Alaska, including dollars for schools, energy assistance and social services.
"We are not requesting funds intended to just grow government," Palin said. "In essence we say no to operating funds for more positions in government."
ADN, April 10:
Gov. Sarah Palin told news media here this morning she’s willing to accept the federal economic stimulus money -- if legislators agree to use some of it to replace state spending.
“We can back out state (general fund) dollars and replace them with stimulus dollars…I’ll feel better about it because then those dollars won’t just be additional dollars they’ll be replacement dollars,” Palin said.
Juneau Empire, April 29:
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin will accept most of the federal stimulus funds available to the state, her spokeswoman said Tuesday.
Palin initially said she would accept only about two-thirds of the $930 million available to Alaska, but spokeswoman Sharon Leighow said Palin changed her mind after the public weighed in during legislative hearings prior to lawmakers passing bills to seek almost all funding.
Palin spokeswoman Sharon Leighow said the message earlier this year that Palin was going to reject stimulus funds was misconstrued.
"She's never said she's rejecting anything. She's been consistent we need to hear from the public, thus the legislative hearings," Leighow said.
The twit even joined Twitter to tell the world about it!
Yes, Sarah Palin, we believe you...
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Sarah Palin and the Concerned Citizens for Wasilla
The following is a snippet from an article on ADN, published on February 11, 1997:
A recall of Mayor Sarah Palin is off the table, at least for now, according to a group calling itself Concerned Citizens for Wasilla.
The group of about 60 residents was formed Friday in response to Palin's controversial firing of Police Chief Irl Stambaugh. Members say they're concerned about the direction taken by Palin since her election last fall, and discussed a recall. But members of the group decided instead they first want to hear Palin's explanations in person. The group developed a list of 25 questions and plans to ask Palin to meet with them sometime before Feb. 21.
''In all fairness, we need to allow the mayor in her own words answer the questions we have for her,'' said Kathryn Rounds, the group's acting chairwoman. Among the questions: Why did Palin fire the police chief if she didn't have a better person in mind? Does the city have an ethics code? Would she resign to avoid a recall? The group also wants her to clarify her goals for the city. Palin was non-committal Monday, but seemed resistant to the idea. In an interview, she described her critics as the same ''few disgruntled citizens'' who have been against her since she was elected.
I looks like Sarah Palin started her collection of disgruntled citizens back in 1997. Now she has changed "citizens" to "bloggers". I suppose it sounds more "frivolous"...
What are bloggers if not citizens? Why can't citizen-bloggers challenge her statement "Hold me accountable"?
Image: Sarah Palin being sworn in as Mayor of Wasilla
ADN article
"Wasilla" post
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Sarah Palin, journalist
This video is excrutiating, but it shows what an ace journalist our Sarah used to be.
Sarah Palin, the twit.
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Sarah Palin goes fishing
Salmon fishing, Yukon Delta
Sarah Palin's official government website has released a video of the Emmonak Job Fair 2009 narrated by her Rural Adviser, John Moller.
I can't embed the video, but you can watch it by clicking on the link above. See who was chosen to illustrate commercial salmon fishing...
What I don't understand is why fishermen from the Yukon Delta would go fishing in Bristol Bay, shown on the video as an example.
It seems to me that this Emmonak Job Fair video was put together to show what a fantastic effort the state government is making to solve the villagers' problems. As they never took any interest in those villages before the bloggers drew attention to the energy crisis back in January, I suppose they didn't have any footage of real natives doing some real fishing in their own area.
Should we expect to see Sarah Palin starring in the next series of the "Deadliest Catch"?
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Sarah Palin, ethics champion!
I've saved the best for last. This is the concluding post based on the interview of June 1, 2005. It's about... ethics! (And word salad)
Background:
Palin resigned from the oil and gas commission after a public squabble with fellow commissioner Randy Ruedrich, who also happens to chair the Republican Party of Alaska. Palin in 2003 alerted Gov. Frank Murkowski's administration that she suspected Ruedrich of an ethical misstep, doing party work on government time.
Palin resigned from the commission rather than, she said at the time, be forced to remain silent about Ruederich's ethical lapses.
Palin later took on Murkowski's attorney general in a conflict-of-interest scandal that forced his resignation.
The questions and answers:
Q: Were you at all surprised with the outcome of the Renkes case?
A: I'm surprised at the reactions still from the administration on the whole issue, that there's still such denial that there was any wrongdoing when obviously and legally there was wrongdoing. But between that and the Randy Ruederich case, I'm amazed still that some in the administration don't want to believe that there was anything amiss when obviously there was.
Q:Do you see any fallout?
A: The fallout politically for me is that the chair of the Republican Party, Randy Ruderich, he certainly is not an ally. The crazy thing about it too is that he and some of his followers used to act like, you know, I could do anything. I would help the state, help the party, and I'm the same person that I was back then, when he still supported me. I have the same positions; I have the same values. But now, I'm an enemy, ... because I asked questions, because I did my job as a supervisor and asked.
Q: Did you get any of that from your journalism background?
A: I did. I did. Two things I called upon, well, three things. One is just, you know, things that you teach your kids, that you want your kids to be honest and have a good character. But my journalism degree and my 10 years in local government had me very perplexed as to why there was a, it seemed, this desire to wheel and deal behind closed doors. This was the public's business. The attorney general is a public servant; it's the public's business that we were dealing with there. ...You would have no motivation to try to get away with something like that in a small town like Wasilla or anywhere else across Alaska. So for those who came from Washington, D.C., and came from outside of Alaska, to come in here and to engage in some of those activities, it was, it was un-Alaskan even, that that was going on.
The Ruedrich affair: as the ethics supervisor of the Oil and Gas Conservation Commission she blew the whistle on him for conducting party work on government time. She hacked into his computer, photocopied lots of documents and ultimately Ruedrich had to resign and pay a heavy fine. (The article says the fine was $1,200. It's a typo, the fine was $12,000)
The funny thing is that she had done exactly the same while she was mayor of Wasilla and ran for lieutenant governor in 2002. She used office equipment, office staff, all on the city's dime, to run her campaign. When challenged about it, Sarah Palin responded by calling the accusations exaggerated and not at all comparable to Ruedrich's transgressions on the oil and gas commission. She said she apologized for any mistakes. Mostly, she dismissed the charges as last-minute smears by desperate opponents.
Sarah Palin expresses amazement at the fact that some people didn't want to believe that there was anything amiss regarding Renkes when obviously there was. She was a fierce anklebiter in the case against Gregg Renkes. What a girl!
If anybody can decipher her last answer, please, please write in an explain what it means. What are the two, well, three things she got from her journalism background?
Full interview
Another Sarah Palin background post
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Wednesday, 29 April 2009
Sarah Palin's pipeline
This is the third post based on the 2005 interview. Once I've published all the posts about it, I'll give you the link to the whole interview. We're now moving on to the pipeline, an all-Alaska pipeline. Here's some background to put the question and the answer into context:
She appeared in newspaper and TV ads as an advocate of an all-Alaska natural gas pipeline. That effort semi-collapsed even as Palin sat for this interview June 1 when California energy company Sempra withdrew its financial backing. Sempra cited a lack of progress in Juneau toward securing a natural gas supply it could ship to the West Coast.
Q: It sounds as though you've adopted energy independence and a supply for Southcentral as sort of a cause. And so, I'm curious how you found yourself, for example, on the all-Alaska pipeline advertising, the only woman along with so-called elder statesmen. How did that strike you?
A: Well, the guys asked about it, what did I think about an all-Alaska line. Of course, my position is, all things being equal, of course it needs to be all Alaska. It's constitutionally mandated that our resources be developed for the benefit of all Alaskans.
It's not a difficult decision for me to make when asked, would you rather see the jobs, the revenue derived go more towards a foreign company and foreign country, Canada, or keep it all in Alaska? And I look forward also to seeing how, what kind of compromises in the best interest of Alaskans will come from this. I trust that there will be decisions that will be made, we better be able to trust that there are decisions that will be made by the administration that are open to public scrutiny. And that's the concern I have right now, the lack of open government that we see in state government.
How ironic that Sarah Palin's pet project since being elected governor is a pipeline going through Canada, she gave $500 million to TransCanada to study the possibility of building the pipeline and the target are the hungry markets on the Lower 48...
The word salad persists throughout the interview. Be patient, my friends.
OT: Don't forget to watch the cool governor on American Chopper tomorrow night!
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Sarah Palin's respect
The same 2005 interview mentioned in my last post provides another insight into Sarah Palin's thinking:
Q:What do you plan to do next?
A: We talked in the beginning about our passions and what piques our interest.
And as much as I've become so frustrated with the Alaskan political scene, that still is my interest is serving Alaska in whatever capacity Alaskans may see fit in the future. And I recognize that there is a time and a season for everything. I don't know exactly when the season would be, but I would like to serve somehow statewide at some point because this is my home. I have great respect for my husband's native roots and I'm so fortunate to have married into this family that has ties to Alaska's, our foundation. Bush Alaska, villages, Native communities ... I think deserve a lot more respect. It's another one of my passions, and it's another kind of driving force that gets me thinking if Alaskans would choose me to do something in the future for them, I would love to serve them.
Sarah Palin said she thinks Native communities deserve a lot more respect.
How come she treats them with utter contempt, dismissing their pleas for help in preserving their livelihoods and way of life? When she took the Evangelical circus to Western Alaska, the best she could do was give them some cookies and urge them to emulate Native Todd: go and seize opportunities upon the North Slope.
They don't have to go and seek opportunities hundreds of miles away from their villages. They have a local economy based on salmon fishing, presently being wrecked by the salmon bycatch which is a result of factory trawlers from out of state fishing for pollock.
Did Sarah Palin support the Natives during the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council meeting in Anchorage last month? Did she help them make their case for a limit on bycatch allowing the salmon population to recover so their economy wouldn't collapse and they wouldn't have to face another winter without cash to buy fuel and groceries?
No.
To the Natives of Western Alaska, salmon fishing means a whole lot more than a photo opportunity.
What is the exact meaning of the word respect in Sarah Palin's dictionary?
Excellent post about salmon bycatch: Mudflats
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Classy Sarah Palin
I was sent a link to an old background article about Sarah Palin and found a few gems in the interview, which took place in 2005. This post is about one of them.
Q: I noticed there was a new business license acquired in the Mat-Su under your name.
A: Rouge Cou, it's a classy way of saying redneck. It's a French word, rouge is red, cou is neck. It's for marketing and consulting, in case I wanted to go that route, I'd have my ducks all lined up and have a business license. I just was granted that business license.
Q: You're not actively pursuing a business, it's setting aside the rights, the name, rather?
A: It was to, again, get my ducks lined up, because I would like to, with some of the endeavors that I have going on right now, there comes a time when one desires to be paid for them!
Word salad apart, what comes across is how classy our Sarah really is. In French we would have another word for it...
Hat tip to Helen (nailinpalinnow)
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How are you going to spend the money, Sarah Palin?
I've seen many comments from Sarah Palin's supporters regarding her legal fund on various blogs.
They claim that all these frivolous ethics complaints against Sarah Palin are an attempt to bankrupt their darling governor, that none of the accusations have stuck so far, blah blah.
The ethics complaints are not lawsuits and don't cost Sarah Palin a penny unless they are found to be justified and she chooses to employ an expensive attorney. The Attorney General looks at the complaints and if he considers them worthy of an investigation, they are passed on to the Personnel Board.
If the accusations are indeed baseless, as claimed by Sarah Palin, they wouldn't get past the AG and would cost her absolutely nothing. Zero, zilch, nada, niente, rien... you get my point. Which means her supporters are coughing up money for nothing, if she's so innocent and the allegations are worthless.
Many of the complaints have not been assessed for validity yet. But one in particular springs to mind: it was filed in October 2008 by Frank Gwartney and concerned Sarah Palin charging the state for her children's travel. The result? She had to reimburse the state nearly $10,000 for dodgy travel expenses.
Sarah Palin used the services of Thomas Van Flein on this occasion, as she did when Troopergate blew up in her face. He's very expensive and an expert on spinning, which suits the governor really well. The fact that she was found to be in breach of the rules and had to pay money back means that the "baseless", "frivolous" ethics complaints only cost her money when she's guilty!
The bulk of the $500,000 that are bankrupting Sarah Palin went on the Troopergate investigation, which wasn't the result of a frivolous complaint by an anklebiter. She spent this astronomical amount of money for political reasons, after she pulled the little stunt of filing the complaint against herself. We all know what a mess Troopergate turned out to be. To this day, her "innocence" is highly debatable. Sarah Palin was exonerated of any wrongdoing by a far from impartial Personnel Board.
The transparent, ethical, spotless governor had to pay tax on $18,000 worth of per diems collected for staying in her nice, warm home, make a few phone calls and give interviews to Fox News. This wasn't a result of any complaints from anklebiters, it was to do with the IRS, not known as anklebiters by any stretch of the imagination. No legal expenses in this case, but it shows a pattern.
From the Alaska Fund Trust website:
Statement of Trustee Kristan Cole
"Over the past months it became increasingly clear that supporters of Governor Palin needed to help defend against the onslaught of frivolous attacks against her. These baseless accusations are designed to inhibit her ability to focus on the issues Alaskans truly care about and force massive personal debt on her and her family."
Well, as baseless and frivolous accusations cost the governor absolutely nothing, I think they should reword the whole thing and tell the truth: the Fund was created to pay for expenses incurred during her quest for the White House. That failed and the RNC, having given Sarah Palin bad advice regarding Troopergate, left her on her own to face the music and pay the bills.
Considering that both the AG and the Personnel Board are at Sarah Palin's beck and call, the odds of any Fund money being used to fight any new battles would seem to be very low. If any of the ethics complaints make it past the AG, they can't be deemed to be baseless and frivolous.
I rest my case.
Please read this very logical post about Sarah Palin's attorney fees.
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Tuesday, 28 April 2009
Sarah Palin's team mates (UPDATE)
Kathleen Sebelius is a very accomplished politician. Here we have a competent, hard working state governor whose private life is not all over the tabloids. Sebelius is awaiting confirmation to the post of Health and Human Services secretary in President Obama's administration.
What have Sarah Palin's supporters been doing to derail this appointment? Because Sebelius is pro-choice, they put out a call-to-action, urging all 70,000 members of Team Sarah to make phone calls to the Senate Finance Committee voicing their objections.
The Committee received 40 calls from Team Sarah members opposing the appointment and 80 calls supporting it!
With the threat of a swine flu pandemic looming, these people should keep their noses out of serious politics and go back to sending little tokens of affection to Sarah Palin's family.
UPDATE: Kathleen Sebelius was confirmed 65 - 31. Yesss!!! (updated 00:18)
Full article
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Come on, Sarah, tell us the truth about the babies!
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Paying Sarah Palin's legal fees
Troopergate was a bipartisan investigation and the committee which commissioned it had 8 Republican and 4 Democratic members.
Could somebody explain how it became political?
The way I read it, it became very political indeed after the RNC got involved in the affair with their efforts to rescue their precious, shoddily vetted vice presidential candidate.
Sarah Palin had agreed with the original Branchflower investigation saying that she had "nothing to hide". The worst case scenario at that point would have been a slap on the wrist and that would have been the end of the story.
Then Sarah Palin was tapped by McCain and a possible slap on the wrist became a huge no-no.
Five Republican lawmakers filed a lawsuit against the original commitee, claiming the investigation was of a political nature and the AG filed another suit claiming the subpoenas issued by the legislative committee to the governor, her staff and her husband were not valid.
Kelly Shackelford, an attorney from the Liberty Legal Institute, Texas, was retained as co-counsel assisting Brena, Bell, & Clarkson, of Anchorage, to the tune of $185,000. The two suits were amalgamated and heard by Judge Peter A. Michalski, who ruled that the subpoenas and the investigation were valid.
Somebody must have advised Sarah Palin to move the investigation to the safer Personnel Board and to retain private legal counsel. Enter the $500,000 worth of legal fees in the shape of Thomas Van Flein. She hired a very expensive attorney to defend her against... herself, as the Personnel Board complaint was filed by none other than Sarah Palin.
The RNC operatives were very conspicuous in Alaska during the vice presidential campaign and heavily involved in the Troopergate proccedings, doing what they do best: smearing the reputation of an honest public servant. Walt Monegan was painted as some rogue, worthless loose cannon by Sarah Palin's knights in shining armour.
What happened next is also typical of their tactics and disloyalty. The Republicans lost the election, Sarah Palin was of no further use to them, so she was left high and dry with a huge legal bill.
Sarah Palin said many times since the campaign that she was poorly advised by the RNC team. For once I agree with her.
The much publicized $150,000 wardrobe is small fry compared to the $500,000 their advice cost her. Where are they now?
As far as they are concerned, Sarah Palin belongs in the same trash bags that hold her expensive clothes...
All Troopergate posts
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Sarah Palin legal headache
I read the Trust Agreement of the Alaska Fund Trust and found these passages interesting:
- In the event that SARAH PALIN or any Covered Individual is considered to have received taxable income as a result of being a beneficiary of the Trust, the Trustee shall be permitted to reimburse SARAH PALIN or such beneficiary, as the case may be, from the corpus of the Trust for the actual amount of taxes incurred by SARAH PALIN or such beneficiary, as the case may be, as a result of being a beneficiary of the Trust.
- Beneficiary. The beneficiaries of this Trust shall be SARAH PALIN. In addition, the class of potential beneficiaries shall include any "Covered Individual." For purposes hereof, a "Covered Individual" shall be any other person determined by the Trustee, in the Trustee's sole and absolute discretion, to (i) hold a "covered staff' position within SARAH PALIN's administration and/or an employee in the office of the Governor of the State of Alaska; and (ii) hold a covered relationship with SARAH PALIN, including without limitation, a family member, such as a parent, spouse, child, grandchild, sibling and other close family relationship.
- Liability of the Trustee and Bond Requirements. Neither the Trustee nor any successor trustees shall be required to give bond for the faithful and proper performance of the Trust duties hereunder. The Trustee or any successor trustee may, however, in his, her or its absolute discretion, purchase a bond in such amount as the Trustee or any successor trustee deems proper and pay the premiums(s) from the Trust funds.
- Governing Law, Place of Administration. The validity of the Trust and the construction of its terms are governed by the law of the State of Alaska. The principal place of administration of the Trust is the State of Alaska and its administration is governed by the law of the State of Alaska, but the Trustee, in her sole and absolute discretion may change the principal place of administration from time to time to another jurisdiction and thereafter, if declared in writing by the Trustee, the law of the new jurisdiction shall govern the administration of the Trust. Unless otherwise required by the law, the Trustee need not give notice to the beneficiaries of any transfer of the principal place of administration to another jurisdiction.
The second item refers to beneficiaries. Are only cronies considered "Covered Individuals"? And what are the odds of Piper, Trig or Tripp incurring legal expenses in connection with or as result of Sarah Palin being the governor?
The third is about the Trustee being bonded. Looking at Kristan Cole's past performance in the Dairygate affair, I would insist on her having a bond... but they're lifelong friends and neither is very strong on ethics, so maybe Sarah Palin doesn't deem it necessary.
The last item says one thing then quickly says the opposite.
I'm not a lawyer, far from it, but the wording sounds loose and vague. The purpose of the Fund, not being specific to any particular lawsuit or complaint, sounds a bit like "Um, all of them, any of them that have been in front of me..."
Now that the Fund itself is being challenged as unethical, all these points may be moot.
Isn't life exciting in Alaska? Well, yes, they have a tabloid governor whose official webpage reads like a personal page on MySpace...
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Monday, 27 April 2009
Sarah Palin's ethics
Sarah Palin gave an interview to Alaska Business Monthly, which was published on March 1, 2007:
ABM: Everyone's talking ethics, especially in the wake of recent scandals. Do you support an ethics bill, and if so, what would you like to see in it? And can it be enforced?
Palin: I certainly support an ethics bill, and I look forward to working on one with the Legislature, on both sides of the aisle. Some legislators are quite passionate about the ethics bill, so I expect to see a good product by the end of the legislative session. We need to tighten loopholes, and prove to the public that government on our watch will be open and honest, and that we will be transparent in the manner in which we conduct the state's business. As for enforcing ethics violations, there are already agencies in place to do this like the Alaska Public Offices Commission (APOC) and various ethics committees, and I'd like to see us begin policing ourselves, as well. What we have to do is set the bar high, and give agencies like APOC the tools they need to do the job. We've put an investigator position for APOC in this budget, for example--for years, that agency hasn't had an investigator to look into complaints.
Sarah Palin ran her campaign for governor on a platform based on ethics, was all for closing loopholes, blah blah.
How come she has such difficulty in grasping the concept of ethics and how it applies to her?
This interview happened during her first legislative session. The idea of ethics has been wearing thin since then, at least as far as SHE is concerned.
In true Sarah Palin style, everything that comes out of her mouth amounts to nothing more than meaningless soundbites...
Full article
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Sarah Palin thrashes her guts!
The video below was filmed sometime after February 11, 2008. (The interviewer wishes Sarah Palin a belated happy birthday)
According to my calculations, Sarah Palin was, at this stage, around 6 months pregnant with Trig. Please note the high heels, the "pregnant" gait and the reference to "thrashing my guts" when talking about running around Juneau. Perhaps she didn't know she was going to be pregnant very soon...
The photo on the right was taken on February 5, 2008.
Some photos of people when they were 6 months pregnant, for reference...
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To be a Palin child...
Eight year old Piper Palin is a very cute child. But something tells me that she's going through too much, too soon, too fast and that can't be a good thing.
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Sunday, 26 April 2009
The Palins say thank you
Generous Elizabeth, a member of a certain Team connected to our Sarah, was over the moon upon receiving a thank you card from Bristol after sending a couple of gifts for Trig and Piper.
I just received a card from Bristol :)
I think it was sweet of her to send this!
Further down in the thread, replying to envious comments, such as :
Another card from the Palins? LOL, Good on you girl. Are you collecting Palin Cards or something? :)
Generous Elizabeth waxed lyric:
Hehe, I only have 2 right now. I just love sending them stuff and showing my support, and they are just so sweet enough to send out replies! :)
To which another fan commented:
They are so lucky to have such a special friend like you Elizabeth! Perhaps they'll put you on their Christmas card list? Now wouldn't that be something?
Do you have an address where we can all send gifts?
Generous Elizabeth:
Thanks everyone!
And aww Kathleen, that means the world to me for you to call me their friend! Here's where I sent the presents for Trig and Piper :) It's their home address
Blah blah
Wasilla, AK 99654
Now we know why Bristol doesn't find the time to go to school! She's too busy writing thank you cards to all those generous donors.
All these cards and postage must cost a fortune. (Start a Gift Fund Trust?) According to Chuck Heath, Sarah's dad, there were more than 100,000 gifts piling up at the Palins.
Sarah Palin's father, Chuck Heath, says that the presents have literally been piling up.
To the tune of one hundred thousand.
In an interview with Grandparents.com, Mr. Heath remarked,
"There's all kinds of gifts laying around the place - all kinds of baby stuff. I'm in a room right now just full of baby stuff - more than she'll ever use."
I think it's very sweet that people are so generous and send gifts to the Palin children. To be fair, Sarah Palin can't control that any more than she can stop lovely toy wolves and adoption certificates arriving at her home.
But considering that the Palins are not paupers and don't need the gifts, I'm sure they could find needy families, children's wings in Alaskan hospitals, daycare centres, etc, that could put this mountain of baby stuff to good use.
Such a gesture would make the Palins look good for a change. They're not often associated with giving...
I don't think these gifts have to be declared as they fall under a certain value, but 100,000? Do they received cash gifts as well as sock puppets, by any chance?
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Sarah Palin and DNC operatives
Sarah Palin's supporters are absolutely convinced that the ethics complaints against their beloved governor are part of some conspiracy orchestrated by people in the higher echelons of the Democratic Party. I received a comment on "What do you call this, Sarah Palin?" which ended like this:
"Oh, and tell your buddy Pete Rouse hi for me. We got his number too!"
(I had to google Pete Rouse)
I assume this is the same person who wrote on his own blog:
So I’m reading the 9,324th story on the absolutely ridiculous “ethics complaint”against Sarah Palin, filed by operatives of the DNC, namely Sondra Tomkins, who is aided by Shannyn Moore, AKM Muckraker, and Linda Biegel.
Operatives of the DNC? Seriously? Sondra Tomkins is a registered Republican...
I also saw some comments on other sites (I honestly can't remember where) which said that liberal bloggers are paid conspirators, receiving their orders from Axelrod and Pete Rouse.
The progressive bloggers in Alaska are a group of concerned citizens who happen to be friends. They experience Sarah Palin's governing style in their day-to-day lives and they are not happy. So they blog about it and support people who are brave enough to challenge the governor. No more, no less.
I blog as a concerned citizen of the world and developed a deep sympathy for Alaskans in the process of researching the issues relating to Sarah Palin. No more, no less.
What Sarah Palin's supporters fail to grasp is that the DNC doesn't need to orchestrate any campaigns agaisnt the governor because they're really scared or something. They don't take her seriously. Her record speaks for itself and that's what really scares Alaskan citizens.
I was under the impression that we were the ones wearing til foil hats with an inclination to believe in conspiracy theories...
If I were to take these allegations seriously, I would write to the White House and complain.
Where's my money?
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Sarah Palin, the First Dude and webpages
I visited the governor's pages on the official websites of all female governors to see how many of them had a First Gentleman page and what they contained.
Jan Brewer, Arizona - No First Gentleman page
Linda Lingle, Hawaii - No First Gentleman
Jodi Rell, Connecticut - No Fisrt Gentleman page
Jennifer Granholm, Michigan - First Gentleman page, no commercial links
Bev Purdue, North Carolina - First Gentleman page, no commercial links
Chris Gregoire, Washington - First Gentleman page, no commercial links
Kathleen Sebelius, Kansas - No mention of First Gentleman
Sarah Palin, Alaska - First Dude page with link leading to commercial sponsors
I also checked a few random male governors. Some have First Lady pages, but none have commercial links in them.
I noticed that the spouses who have separate pages are involved in some cause, advocating better reading, visiting war veterans, better education, healthcare for children, mentoring, etc. They tend to be involved in some sort of community organizing. Otherwise spouses only get a mention in the governor's bio, if at all.
The wife of the governor of Indiana sells a cookbook online for $10 and all proceeds go towards the maintenance and preservation of the Governor's Residence.
Todd Palin is not the only First Gentleman involved in sports and outdoor pursuits, but his page is the only one with a link leading to his commercial sponsors.
I couldn't find any forms detailing First Family invitations to events, but I didn't check all 50 states websites...
Another thing I couldn't find in other websites were press releases belittling the citizens of the state or encouraging a backlash against dissenters, responding to events in snarky tones, nor did I find any press releases about First Family little scandals. No press releases from other governors were whiny, defensive, accusatory or attempted to blame others.
It's a question of style, I suppose...
Picture from Governor's website, which also appeared on other websites and newspapers.
Recall Sarah Palin
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Labels:
ethics,
sarah palin
Saturday, 25 April 2009
Sarah(un)Pac
The Washington Post has reported this week that Campaign Solutions, a Republican consulting firm advising Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's political action committee, has parted ways with the former Republican vice presidential nominee.
The group had been working with the Palin operation to raise money for SarahPAC but decided to step aside after a series of strategic and philosophic differences, according to a source familiar with the decision.
Despite some half-hearted denials, Greta Van Susteren's husband John Coale was quite involved in the running and funding of SarahPac.
Coale, in an interview with the Fix, described himself simply as a "friend" of the Alaska governor but acknowledged that he suggested she start a leadership PAC and helped her navigate through some of the questions surrounding her family that lingered after the campaign. Others familiar with Palin's political team insist that Coale has far more power than he is letting on -- essentially helping to run Sarah PAC.
John Coale has a "weakness" for female politicians and likes to be their knight in shining armour. In Sarah Palin's case, he's not in agreement with her ideology. As the opportunist he is, he saw the chance to advance the Scientologist agenda of infiltrating national politics, using his wife's sympathetic interviews and access to Sarah Palin as a way in.
If SarahPac morphs into an Alaskan Bail Out Fund, where does that leave John Coale's Scientology infiltration plans?
nailinpalinnow has an excellent, very well researched article about how Scientologists work. Don't miss it!
For further reading about SarahPac vs Sarah's Bail Out Fund, go to Mudflats.
Recall Sarah Palin
.
The group had been working with the Palin operation to raise money for SarahPAC but decided to step aside after a series of strategic and philosophic differences, according to a source familiar with the decision.
Despite some half-hearted denials, Greta Van Susteren's husband John Coale was quite involved in the running and funding of SarahPac.
Coale, in an interview with the Fix, described himself simply as a "friend" of the Alaska governor but acknowledged that he suggested she start a leadership PAC and helped her navigate through some of the questions surrounding her family that lingered after the campaign. Others familiar with Palin's political team insist that Coale has far more power than he is letting on -- essentially helping to run Sarah PAC.
John Coale has a "weakness" for female politicians and likes to be their knight in shining armour. In Sarah Palin's case, he's not in agreement with her ideology. As the opportunist he is, he saw the chance to advance the Scientologist agenda of infiltrating national politics, using his wife's sympathetic interviews and access to Sarah Palin as a way in.
If SarahPac morphs into an Alaskan Bail Out Fund, where does that leave John Coale's Scientology infiltration plans?
nailinpalinnow has an excellent, very well researched article about how Scientologists work. Don't miss it!
For further reading about SarahPac vs Sarah's Bail Out Fund, go to Mudflats.
Recall Sarah Palin
.
Labels:
sarah palin,
sarahpac
Sarah Palin's bail out
In an interview with Katie Couric about the "other" bail out, Sarah Palin said:
"All those things under the umbrella of job creation. This bail out is part of that."
Now that Sarah Palin has her very own bail out fund, known as the Alaska Fund Trust, the quote is as apt as ever.
Under Sarah's umbrella, there's guaranteed job creation for those in the legal profession!
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Labels:
legal fund,
sarah palin
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